Hey everyone! The latest set is about to launch on MTG Arena and that means it is, once again, time for me to go over the limited archetypes. Lorwyn Eclipsed is taking us back to a plane we haven’t visited in a long time and to throw things off a bit there are only five supported archetypes this time around.
I’ll be giving you the general idea of what each one of them is supposed to be doing as well as providing you archetype skeletons of each to help you find the right path during the draft.
For those of you unfamiliar with archetype skeletons, they are solid versions of each archetype built under specific restrictions. Think of them as decks that could trophy, but are far from guaranteed to do so. It wouldn’t do you much good to look at busted versions because those decks build and play themselves when they pop up. This type of exercise is focused more on improving your chance at winning while sitting in an average draft seat.
We will be using the limitations of two rares (no mythics), five uncommons (no duplicates), and not more than two of any common.
The mana bases will remain static for simplicities sake. They will be one Evolving Wilds with eight of each basic land. I am aware that some of the ratios might be incorrect, but that is beyond what is necessary for this exercise. Please don’t be that person who messages me to complain about this.
The merfolk are tricksy little buggers by giving you bonuses for tapping them. While attacking is the obvious way to pull this off, Convoke gives you a way to lower the costs of your spells while getting that sweet tap bonus on top of it.
This is the swarm deck of the format as you deploy a pile of Kithkin before finding ways to pump them up such as Timid Shieldbearer. It plays like most Selesnya limited decks in that you can often overwhelm your opponent, but you don’t have nearly as much gas in the late game.
Izzet a spells deck again? Izzet time for me to get some new material? Izzet ever going to be a good joke? Luckily, this time the answer to all of them is no.
The theme is getting bonuses from elementals by casting spells that cost four or more. It doesn’t specify non-creature spells so you can have elementals that trigger elementals. That sounds a lot more like a typical Gruul plan, but I’ll take the change of pace.
Clearly these Goblins need to have a long talk about mental health. They willingly sacrifice themselves for bonuses to kill your enemy. I am a fan of all of the micro decisions built into it, but that might be a good reason to avoid it if you don’t think you can outplay your opponent.
It is to be expected for Elves to be in touch with nature and the cycle of life. In this case, that gives them the opportunity to gain a little extra value out of the graveyard. It’s not really as prevalent as you would think with it being the mechanic of choice, but it is always nice when you get a something extra thrown in.
Josh is a member of the elite limited team The Draft Lab as well as the host of The Draft Lab Podcast. He was qualifying for Pro Tours, Nationals, and Worlds literally before some of you were born. After a Magic hiatus to play poker and go to medical school, he has been dominating Arena with over an 80% win percentage in Bo3 as well as making #1 rank in Mythic.
